AN: Yes Fic has been renamed. Best of luck and Goodbye!

She floo'd into the burrow at dinner time before she lost her nerve. After months of wandering the globe she found herself longing for home for the first time in years. Nothing brought her joy anymore. The world was empty and she was as well. It was time.

Unsurprisingly, Molly had gathered her brood as she did every Sunday and she could hear the laughter from where she stood. Sundays. For some reason the day followed her around like a plague. She almost turned around, would have actually, if not for the silent shadow of her oldest friend on the wall, watching her placidly.

"Are you ready now?" He asked his voice calm and even. A loud bang was heard in the background followed by Molly's unmistakable shouting and a round of laughter. It sounded young. There were children in the Burrow again. The thought just reminded her of everything she had missed.

"No." She responded, taking in her old friend. He looked older, so much older than he should. Streaks of gray peppered his black hair like veins of granite. Thin wrinkles shot out in a line of spider webs from his eyes and brown, stress carving them deep into his skin. The years had not been kind to him, she had not been kind to him.

"We can wait." He responded, his green eyes tracking her every movement. "Or you can turn back around and try again later."

"There is no later." She breathed, hating the way he flinched. He was holding himself back, resisting the urge to shout, once again for her sake. Even after all this time he was so certain she would break. Maybe she would. Maybe she needed to.

"I'm so sorry." The words tumbled out of her, hanging in the air with the sounds of home. Part of her screamed to run straight into that kitchen and surround herself with love and happiness. Another part whispered maliciously that they never really wanted her there in the first place.

"Me too. I… I didn't know you felt that way." Harry sighed, shaking his head lightly. His wild spurts of hair bouncing around his face. "I didn't mean to make you feel like you needed to run. I just ...I just wanted to know you were okay."

"You were worried." She responded, wrapping her arms around herself. Everything was stilted and awkward now. Was this what it would always be? It didn't seem worth returning to.

"I was. You just… left like that. I-I can't do this again." He pushed off the walk and walked over to her. His shoulders were tense and his movements stiff. He was barely a foot away from her when he stopped, his eyes regarding her neutrally. "Are you staying or going? "

"I-" Hermione glanced towards the fireplace. If she left now Harry probably wouldn't say anything. She could continue her life elsewhere, making new friends and maybe even settling down somewhere now that he seemed truly done looking for her. Perhaps she would be able to find her heart again in someone else, someone who didn't mind that she was so damaged. She shivered as she tried to ignore the ache in her chest that never really went away.

"What if they don't want me here?" She questioned glancing down at the familiar worn carpet, soot stained from years of Weasley floo travel. "I'm still not… Better."

"Oh Hermione…" She glanced up, only to meet a level of warmth in Harry's eyes that rivaled the sun. A light sob escaped her as he gathered her into a bone crushing hug. She heard the footsteps filing down the hall, the usual sounds of dinner transformed into a confused murmur. She couldn't look at the door, choosing instead to bury her face in her best friend's chest, relying on him to help her through it.

"I'm sorry." She cried, not the least bit bothered as she dampened what had to have been one of his nicest shirts. She jumped when she felt the addition of one palm on her back, then another. A variety of arms and red hair wrapping around her. It only made her sob harder. "I am so sorry I am like this. I'm sorry I can't just be happy."

"You are perfect exactly as you are, Hermione. Welcome home."

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Hermione shivered under the warm glow of the stage lights alone. Harry had set everything up. For someone who didn't like the spotlight he was sure good at fanfare. Must be a side effect of becoming Minister. Behind the curtain he stood on a podium addressing the pressed with muted flowery words about togetherness and forgiveness. She could barely breathe and had resulted in using a sticking charm on her shoes to keep from bolting. There was a world of people out there. People who had thought her dead. People who wanted to know where she'd been and what she had done.

"I can't do this." she whispered to no one in particular.

"Hermione Granger can do anything. Haven't you heard?" An achingly familiar voice drawled from the shadows. "She can solve any problem, sweep her exams, and keep the savior of the world alive, all with one leg tied behind her back."

"Draco!" She tried to keep the unadulterated joy out of her voice as she spun to greet him. He was hiding in the roping, so that even when the curtain rose he would be far out of sight. His lean form was leaning on a nearby pole looking at her coldly.

"Granger." She tried not to deflate at the formality, she failed.

"I...I'm glad you could make it." She ventured diplomatically. Not that she expected it, her owl had come back with his invitation still tied to it's legs. She had stopped reading the Prophet before she even got back, unable to handle glimpses of him in the society pages. He looked thin, and his eyes had the darkest rings she had ever seen. His pale skin was pasty and even his hair was rumpled in that way that was more crazed than endearing. Even as much of his beauty had faded away his eyes still held the cold elegance in their moon touched gray.

"Brought to heel like a stray dog then Granger?" He said blandly like it wasn't the lash he intended. It landed with brutal accuracy. His eyes sharpened to gunmetal as he watched her, glistening with a sheen of malice. He wanted it to hurt her and in spite of it all that surprised her. She hadn't seen him like this in years.

"Have you always been this cruel?" She questioned humorlessly as she stared at the bright red curtain in front of her. Not blood red thank god, just the kind of red they used to have in theaters. Like at the show she went to when she was young. The one with all the cats. Her mum must have been setting up for a tag team on her dad because after that show she was dying for a cat. It took a few years before they could convince him to accept Crooks.

"You are hardly one to speak of cruelty." He scoffed and she didn't bother to cover her flinch. She dared a glimpse of his eyes hoping for forgiveness or love. They flared with his familiar fire of rage and she quickly redirected her gaze to the floor. "I am so incredibly angry with you right now."

She said nothing, taking a deep breath to steady herself. She had hoped to see him here when she sent that owl. Maybe it was foolish and desperate but… whatever it was it was a mistake.

"This isn't fair. I gave you the church. You elected to pass on that." If he wanted to play that way she could be just as hardhearted, or at least she could pretend to be. "I am not here for your emotional development."

"Fair? Was it fair for you to make me love you?" In that perfectly controlled demeanor he was so known for, his voice didn't even raise slightly. "Was it fair for you to leave like that? You just disappeared for weeks without telling me, making me think you would never come back. Do you have any idea how I felt?" He paused, a twitch in his jaw as his voice fell softly, just an octave barely there. But she noticed. And some how that stung worse than the barbs. "Do you even know what you did to me?"

"So you're doing this to hurt me?" She cried out not caring who heard. She had always thought that heartbreak should end with a bang. Something that hurt this much should never be silent.

"I'm doing this because I would have run away with you if you had just asked." He hissed, his grip on his emotions slipping. "If I went up to you in that blasted church you would have let me and we would have never come back. This is your world Granger, you needed to come back to it. Where's the bloody Gryffindor bravery in running away?"

"It's what I have always done." She replied simply, willing the knot in her throat to be swallowed.

"It is vile." He growled. "Despicable and cruel."

"It is." She didn't bother apologizing, what really was the point. Whatever was between them had snapped as cleanly as any broken bone and was just about as painful as well. She pushed down the tears but couldn't help the small sniffle that broke through. God she was pathetic. She deserved every bit of it yet still felt the need to cry.

"Granger." His voice was softer. That fact hurt her more than anything. "Self-pity is a bad look."

She couldn't help the awkward laugh that bubbled up from her throat. She threw her hands quickly over her mouth risking a glance at him only to see him smirking while slowly shaking his head.

"Merlin... I told you that you would be the death of me." His eyes met hers, an agonizing misery breaking past the surface. "I just didn't think it would hurt so much."

"Me either." She whispered before a crackling on the other side of the curtain drew her attention, once again flinging her into her fears. She loathed to go, it felt too nice to return to normality, even if it was just for this last time. She would never see him again, not like this. They may run into each other at the ministry on occasion. Or perhaps at a restaurant where she would nod towards him and he would tip his glass before turning back to whatever beautiful witch he ended up marrying and starting a family with. God was it too much to ask for friendship? It probably was. They were too far gone.

"I can see those gears spinning in your head. If you don't stop that tinderbox you call hair is going to catch." He shot lazily, his posture relaxing.

"You are such an ass." She tried to pin him with a glare but it dissolved into a soft smile when she met his gaze, still open. Still accepting. She wanted nothing more than to run to him, throw herself into his arms and disappear to some place where no one knew their names.

"What if they hate me? What if they still expect the world of me? I can't give it. I only have a little bit left and… and I want it for you. I don't care if it's selfish. I want to st-" A strangled gasp escaped her throat and he was by her side in an instant. She didn't hear an apparition though. Maybe some sort of switching spell? But those were ridiculously dangerous on living creatures. Maybe-

"You're doing it again." He breathed softly into her ear as he softly pet the back of her hair. Somehow she wound up pressed against his chest. The whole world was shaking. It took a moment to realize it was just her.

"It doesn't need to be goodbye." She struggled to breath between the words. Her body melted against his, reaching out for its familiarity.

"Now who's being dramatic." He quipped tiredly as he haltingly rubbed her back. "You couldn't let me go with grace, could you?"

"Sorry." She mumbled. Not that she really meant it. "I've never been particularly elegant."

"Not what I meant." He sighed into her hair, his fingers lightly digging into the skin near her spine. For a moment, hidden away backstage she let herself be weak, desperate even. She would spend the rest of her life wondering if she didn't ask.

"Really... You could just... We could... Maybe just… Grab a coffee every few weeks at first… people will-"

"Talk. And never stop talking. And take pictures and shout at you and send you hate mail. Granger you are shock frozen at the idea of this curtain lifting. You will likely hide out for at least a month after. I was in the papers three times last weekend. Twice for going to dinner with Blaise and Theo and once because some poor witch had this misfortune to walk out of a hotel at the same time I did. You can't handle that kind of spotlight."

"I'm Hermione Granger. I can do anything." She murmured curled against his chest. Maybe if she stayed right there he wouldn't leave. "You don't need to do this…"

"And you are in such a position to stop me." He scoffed, looking for all the world like the powerful, if not tired, wizard he was. His hand pulled her chin up to meet his eyes, reflecting the love she had never told him about and that she now no longer deserved. "I told you I am terrible at goodbyes."

There were a few moments of silence as he held her.

"They would be proud of you." He all but whispered. She hadn't felt the tears start until they blurred out her vision, dropping her head to his chest to hide them. "I know they would be. They would be sitting in the crowd in whatever muggle getup passed for respectable and loudly share with everyone next to them 'That's my girl. That's my little swot."

"They never called me swot you prat." She hissed in a vain attempt to cover her tears. "That was only you."

"Then I guess you have something to remember me fondly by." He gave her a quick squeeze and pulled away. She could have sworn she felt the ghost of his lips brush against her cheek. "You can move on. It's okay. We can pretend we never met. But, if you need me, I am only an owl away. Anything you need, I can make it happen. Bollocks to what people think, you call, I will come."

"So… dramatic…" She managed as her tears broke into real sobs.

"I'd burn the world for you Hermione." It was a silly sentiment but felt honest nonetheless.

"I don't want the world burning you knob!" She spat resisting the urge to dive after him. "I just want lazy Sundays laying on the couch with you and Crooks while musing about the Holly berry crop this year like a proper old boring married couple."

"I'd drive you insane complaining about the cat hair." He chuckled lightly. "And your hair for that matter."

"And I'd drive you to tears with my 'sloppy' ingredient preparation." She hiccuped slightly, trying to get a hold of herself.

"Don't cry, Hermione." He murmured for the very first time. It struck her more than it should. "Really it's easier this way. I don't belong up there with you all. Not really."

"You sound like a cheesy break up movie." She hated that her voice cracked and that he didn't even have the decency to meet her eyes when he lied to her.

"I couldn't say otherwise…

"And finally, returning back to the UK from a very important mission…" The sonorus charm finally breached the curtains as they drifted open the slightest bit. Harry's warm voice sounded full of excitement and pleasure.

"I guess it's time for you to go." He cast a quiet scourgify to clean up her face. The cool water of the magic was heartrendingly gentle. And she was never going to feel it ever again. It was enough to make her eyes start to water all over. "See you, Granger. Thanks for… Everything I guess."

He stepped back as the curtain rose. His eyes met hers one last time and flashed with the deep pain of letting someone go. She couldn't do that to him. They had both had enough loss for their lifetimes. She knew, just a moment later, there was no going back. Let them think her selfish and insane and sentimental. She was all of those things and so was he. They were human.

Releasing her sticking charm she grabbed his wrist and pulled him to her, planting her lips against his just as the curtains parted. There may be no going back but there was no going forward for her without him anyway. By the time he held her in earnest, she couldn't hear the crowd over the blood rushing through her brain.

El Finale

BRUH! Take a moment to breathe. It's okay. Get some tissues and come back.

Okay you back? Cool. Thank you all so much for finishing. It was a wild ride and I hope more people get a chance to read this and are as effected by it as you all were, even you sneaky lurkers out there!

For most of you this will be the last time my disembodied voice every speaks to you. I hope you came away from this story with something. Be it a lesson, a good time, or a new idea. I hope you all find whatever you are looking for in life and hold on tightly when you find it. Stay safe, love blindly, and let people be happy.

Regards, Omnenomnom

Questions with Om

Draco's mum?
Epilogue if it ever gets published. I started this story with intentions for a whole scene about that interaction but as it morphed into a story purely about Draco and Hermione finding a place to fit it in didn't work. The fic ends here because stories should ALWAYS end at the... well end. I could write more about the reintroduction to society, their future life and children and yada yada yada. But I was not trying to tell the story of Hermione's life.

So it was all Hermione's fault?

In the simplest terms yes. War is terrible. Her friends could have noticed and done more. The Weasley family could have pushed her to get help but ultimately everyone's mental health is there own responsibility to deal with. Hermione chose the wrong way for her own. The Weasley family (and Harry) had always loved her and had never thought of her as a burden in anyway. She just couldn't see that in her grief.

Why the amnesia?

This is totally a matte of preference but to be blunt about it... for good writing. Not for drama mind you, a nice fight would serve that function. But it was not the story I wanted to write. Draco had to have something that separated him from her giving her a head start so he couldn't feasibly find her. She panicked and made a choice figuring he would never actually remember. It makes sense that in her panic and with his skill she couldn't manage a through job of it but just needed long enough to disappear.

Why did Draco walk away?

She betrayed him. She lied. And ultimately, she would do it again. He knew that as long as he went with her she would always run away for as long as he enabled her. So he didn't let her.

Why didn't Draco bring her back?

Rant Alert: Firstly. I hate, hate, HATE when stories about mental health are magically fixed because a man waltzed into their lives and made it all better. Secondly, from a mental health perspective if she didn't make the call on her own she couldn't properly take accountability for her own actions. Even if he convinced her to come back of her own free will she still would have only done it because he pushed and wouldn't truly be better. Maybe she could be okay eventually but she could also just be resentful of it and let it destroy them. It was just one of those things she had to do on her own for her own personal growth.